News Bites
Binance shares proof of reserves amid FTX crypto meltdown
(Kitco News) -
Binance added a new page to their website on Thursday morning which shows the leading crypto platform’s hot and cold wallet addresses and on-chain activity. The Proof of Assets page shows a detailed breakdown of Binance’s crypto holdings.
The company first released a statement saying reserves data represents Binance’s “ongoing commitment to transparency” and referred to it as “a starting point while we work to create a Merkle tree POF,” which will be published in the coming weeks.
The statement included a snapshot of the contents of their wallets for the most common tokens on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Tron networks as of Nov. 10 at 00:00 UTC.
According to the data, Binance has approximately 475,000 bitcoin (BTC), 4.8 million Ether (ETH), 17.6 billion Tether (USDT), 21.7 billion of their own Binance USD token (BUSD), 601 million USD Coin (USDC), and 58 million BNB, the token that powers Binance’s BNB Chain ecosystem (BNB).
Later in the morning, the company published the webpage containing addresses and more detailed information about 93 cryptocurrencies traded on the Binance platform.
“Our objective is to allow users of our platform to be aware and make informed decisions that are aligned with their financial goals,” they wrote.
The data was released two days after Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that the company would establish a proof of reserve mechanism to ensure their transparency to the crypto community. This was done in an effort to reassure customers and the broader markets that they do not face the liquidity issues that sank FTX.
Binance also announced that their Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) is at $1 billion.
Reaction to the release was largely positive, but some reddit users said the data would be more meaningful if it came with another list showing proof of liabilities, with one user asking “Isn't this a bit pointless if we don't know how much they owe customers and what they owe other parties in the first place?”
This week has been a tumultuous one for the crypto trading giant, as reports emerged of it processing billions in transactions from Iran despite sanctions, followed by the company first stepping in to rescue FTX before deciding against it after an initial round of due diligence.
